Buying a home and don't know how anything works

[Riklet]

So we had an offer accepted on Friday, the house is marked as SSTC on Rightmove, we have found a solicitor and put in the mortgage application... but apparently the vendors haven't decided on a solicitor yet??
Is it just me or is that a bit weird

Nahh pretty normal IMO. They might have just been busy or have been shopping around. It's cheaper for conveyancing when youre selling though... possibly easier too.

I think it could well take them longer than a weekend. Have you got a solicitor and a surveyor now btw?

 

[Boudicca]

So we had an offer accepted on Friday, the house is marked as SSTC on Rightmove, we have found a solicitor and put in the mortgage application... but apparently the vendors haven't decided on a solicitor yet??
Is it just me or is that a bit weird

They probably didn't expect to sell so quickly, I don't think it is anything to worry about, the estate agent will be able to recommend someone to them.

 

[cybershot]

So we had an offer accepted on Friday, the house is marked as SSTC on Rightmove, we have found a solicitor and put in the mortgage application... but apparently the vendors haven't decided on a solicitor yet??
Is it just me or is that a bit weird

Not necessarily, you only appoint once you've agreed to sell.

 

[Thora]

I'd have thought they'd have found someone already since they knew they were selling, but ok. Hopefully they'll get themselves sorted this week anyway!
We have a solicitor and will probably use the same surveyor we used for the last place.

 

[moonsi til]

Really hope it’s third time lucky Thora

When I sold in March 2020 I didn’t have anywhere lined up as thought the selling would take a while -like months a while based on my neighbours house in similar condition but struck lucky & sold on first viewing. I had bought a package with the estate agent that included the legal part.

 

[cybershot]

I'd have thought they'd have found someone already since they knew they were selling, but ok. Hopefully they'll get themselves sorted this week anyway!
We have a solicitor and will probably use the same surveyor we used for the last place.

I'm sure they will have researched and got some quotes, it's then a case of deciding. I agreed to sell mine within 4 days of being on the market, so I was not expecting to have to move on the solicitor front so quickly.

Or they are really disorganised and will be the sort of people that never chase their solicitor and take ages to do any action points.

Good luck it's not the later. Try and get a second viewing and exchange email addresses and cut out the Agent and solicitors for tracking each others progress and then calling BS on any solicitor that says they haven't received XYZ.

 

[Thora]

The house is empty and the vendors aren't buying anywhere, so I'm really hoping we can just get on with it this time.

 

[moonsi til]

Yay no chain Thora

 

[Thora]

Yay no chain Thora

I hope so but I have heard that line before

However we've been inside this one and seen that it's definitely empty. And our offer was quite low and they specifically went with us rather than a higher offer because we have no chain and they wanted to sell quickly with no complications, so I have my fingers crossed...

 

[Epona]

I hope so but I have heard that line before

However we've been inside this one and seen that it's definitely empty. And our offer was quite low and they specifically went with us rather than a higher offer because we have no chain and they wanted to sell quickly with no complications, so I have my fingers crossed...

Good luck!
I completely understand why at this point you do not want to hold out too much hope - but fingers crossed this one goes a lot smoother!

 

[5t3IIa]

Spoke to two surveyors last week. One was an absolute riot, could’ve spent all evening in a pub with him. Charming as fuck but doesn’t do little domestic gaffs. He suggested a chum who I then rang and was immediately yawning and bored stiff but he said he’d do it and anyone that dull has to be competent and persnickety, right? Anyway, chap 2 took the instruction then… nothing Had to call his office and I think I got his wife who didn’t sound surprised he hadn’t done anything. She’s on the case and tapped up vendor for dates next week. Thank god. Still crawling through mortgage app - they asked me that weird question again…so I answered again and now they won’t answer the phone

THIS IS WHAT YOU ALL SAID IT WOULD BE LIKE.

 

[steveseagull]

Survey or not to survey.

I am buying a ground floor garden flat. It looks to be in very good nick. The freeholder owns everything outside the inside of the walls so I assume that is all his responsibility.

The inside of the flat is in excellent nick. No damp, no cracks in the walls. Renovated about five years ago.

I have no mortgage so no problem there.

Is it worth saving £500 pounds and skipping the survey or are there massive reasons why I should not do that?

 

[Epona]

The freeholder owns everything outside the inside of the walls so I assume that is all his responsibility.

You'll still have to pay for your share of any works that need doing, this should be detailed in the lease. It is the freeholders responsibility to make sure maintenance is done, but you will be financially responsible for some of it.

Get a survey.

 

[MBV]

Even if it is just a homebuyers one. Cost is nothing compared to price of property.

 

[scifisam]

Survey or not to survey.

I am buying a ground floor garden flat. It looks to be in very good nick. The freeholder owns everything outside the inside of the walls so I assume that is all his responsibility.

The inside of the flat is in excellent nick. No damp, no cracks in the walls. Renovated about five years ago.

I have no mortgage so no problem there.

Is it worth saving £500 pounds and skipping the survey or are there massive reasons why I should not do that?

Surely £500 would be worth it for the peace of mind?

 

[A380]

Still on the hunt for a personal recommendation for a conveyencing solicitor. Used Taylor Rose for summers purchase and remortgage and whilst they weren’t useless I don’t really want to go there again…

 

[bellaozzydog]

Survey or not to survey.

I am buying a ground floor garden flat. It looks to be in very good nick. The freeholder owns everything outside the inside of the walls so I assume that is all his responsibility.

The inside of the flat is in excellent nick. No damp, no cracks in the walls. Renovated about five years ago.

I have no mortgage so no problem there.

Is it worth saving £500 pounds and skipping the survey or are there massive reasons why I should not do that?

I work on the principal that if a property has survived decades/centuries it’s probably not gonna fall down in my ownership

Look at cracks/plastered over cracks etc if nothing obvious spend the money on booze and cakes

 

[Thora]

Seems like maybe the delay was that the vendors have the same firm of solicitors as us (live in a small place so not a huge amount of choice!). Though there are 5 branches and we have gone for the local branch, they are now with a branch in another town.

Is this likely to cause any problems?

 

[prunus]

Seems like maybe the delay was that the vendors have the same firm of solicitors as us (live in a small place so not a huge amount of choice!). Though there are 5 branches and we have gone for the local branch, they are now with a branch in another town.

Is this likely to cause any problems?

As long as the solictors firm is happy with it from a conflict of interest point of view (ie they have sufficient chinese walls between the branches, which I'd guess they do if your vendors have happily been signed up with another branch) then no this won't cause any problems, and is actually (likely) beneficial - solicitors working in different branches of the same company are likely to communicate better and clearer with each other than externals.

 

[equationgirl]

Seems like maybe the delay was that the vendors have the same firm of solicitors as us (live in a small place so not a huge amount of choice!). Though there are 5 branches and we have gone for the local branch, they are now with a branch in another town.

Is this likely to cause any problems?

It should be fine. As prunus says, so long they have the conflict of interest checks and have sufficient safeguards in place around internal access to information, it will proceed as if it were two firms of solicitors.

 

[miss direct]

Survey or not to survey.

I am buying a ground floor garden flat. It looks to be in very good nick. The freeholder owns everything outside the inside of the walls so I assume that is all his responsibility.

The inside of the flat is in excellent nick. No damp, no cracks in the walls. Renovated about five years ago.

I have no mortgage so no problem there.

Is it worth saving £500 pounds and skipping the survey or are there massive reasons why I should not do that?

Similar to mine. In retrospect, the survey was a complete waste of time and money. It didn't pick up a single issue other than "fitted wardrobe could do with being changed" and I could have written it myself.

 

[Glitter]

As long as the solictors firm is happy with it from a conflict of interest point of view (ie they have sufficient chinese walls between the branches, which I'd guess they do if your vendors have happily been signed up with another branch) then no this won't cause any problems, and is actually (likely) beneficial - solicitors working in different branches of the same company are likely to communicate better and clearer with each other than externals.

We used the same solicitors as our vendor. It was fucking annoying when they would say ‘We’ve heard from Ms X’s solicitor, like they weren’t in the next fucking room’

 

[prunus]

We used the same solicitors as our vendor. It was fucking annoying when they would say ‘We’ve heard from Ms X’s solicitor, like they weren’t in the next fucking room’

:-D

Not as annoying as “we haven’t heard from Ms X’s solicitor” though

 

[steveseagull]

Things are slowly moving in favour of leaseholders with more changes to come:

New act to implement ‘peppercorn’ ground rents achieves Royal Assent

The Leasehold Reform Bill, which aims to drastically reduce ground rent costs for leaseholders, has become law after getting royal assent on Tuesday.

www.insidehousing.co.uk

 

[Glitter]

:-D

Not as annoying as “we haven’t heard from Ms X’s solicitor” though

Oh we got that too

 

[5t3IIa]

Got a mortgage agreed and have paid for surveyor and signed the instruction

Had queries on the life insurance so not escaped from squeaky-voiced broker person yet

Can one accompany the surveyor on the survey?

 

[bellaozzydog]

Got a mortgage agreed and have paid for surveyor and signed the instruction

Had queries on the life insurance so not escaped from squeaky-voiced broker person yet

Can one accompany the surveyor on the survey?

Fairly sure that’s a No on accompanying the surveyor.

If they let you yoh would end up asking what they actually do for their money. I think sometimes the just do a desk top study or look at zoopla

 

[Boudicca]

Can one accompany the surveyor on the survey?

I wouldn't dream of accompanying a surveyor but I did have a good chat on the phone with mine afterwards, which really helped when trying to work out which parts of the survey did and didn't matter. I pulled out of the first house I offered on based on the survey, and he was much more positive about the one I did buy.

(I think I have mentioned this before but the estate agent told me that the first house was 'so good I didn't need to do a survey' which immediately rang alarm bells. So when it turned out that it had a dodgy roof and a serious damp problem, I was much more annoyed than if he had said nothing. I even contemplated telling the sellers that their agent had lost them a sale.)

 

[baldrick]

I wouldn't dream of accompanying a surveyor but I did have a good chat on the phone with mine afterwards, which really helped when trying to work out which parts of the survey did and didn't matter. I pulled out of the first house I offered on based on the survey, and he was much more positive about the one I did buy.

(I think I have mentioned this before but the estate agent told me that the first house was 'so good I didn't need to do a survey' which immediately rang alarm bells. So when it turned out that it had a dodgy roof and a serious damp problem, I was much more annoyed than if he had said nothing. I even contemplated telling the sellers that their agent had lost them a sale.)

Same here, I rang them up after the appointment. Basically saved us from buying a damp disaster of a house - he used the phrase 'catastrophic' on the phone to me so that was pretty straightforward. Think we pulled out before we received the report

 

[Puddy_Tat]

(I think I have mentioned this before but the estate agent told me that the first house was 'so good I didn't need to do a survey' which immediately rang alarm bells. So when it turned out that it had a dodgy roof and a serious damp problem, I was much more annoyed than if he had said nothing. I even contemplated telling the sellers that their agent had lost them a sale.)

i think there may be some grounds to put in a complaint (at least) about the estate agent or maybe even sue the buggers for your wasted survey costs if they lied to you.